I decided to let people know I have Parkinson’s to encourage others to take action. I was Diagnosed 3 and a half years ago, but my life is full. I act, I give talks, I do my podcast, which I love. If you get a diagnosis, keep moving!
More>> pic.twitter.com/zHrNxvlwcS— Alan Alda (@alanalda) July 31, 2018
From NPR: He encouraged people who receive a Parkinson’s diagnosis not to be “immobilized by fear.”
He requested a test after he noticed that he had a symptom of the disease that he read about in The New York Times – he was acting out his dreams while he was asleep. Alda told CBS that he threw a pillow at his wife while he was dreaming about throwing a sack of potatoes at an attacker. The Times described this as “one of the strongest prediagnostic symptoms” for Parkinson’s.
When he was diagnosed, he said he had no other symptoms. He said that “if there’s anything I can do, I want to do it, before things start to show up.”
The actor also hosted Scientific American Frontiers on PBS for more than a decade.
Alda has continued to act since his diagnosis, and he’s not alone in Hollywood. For example, actor Michael J. Fox was diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease in 1991and has continued to act, including playing a character with Parkinson’s disease on The Michael J. Fox Show. He started The Michael J. Fox Foundation for Parkinson’s Research, which says it has funded more than $800 million in research for a cure.
According to the Parkinson’s Foundation, symptoms include tremors and balance problems. “The cause remains largely unknown,” the foundation said, and “although there is no cure, treatment options vary and include medications and surgery.”
Some 930,000 people in the U.S. are expected to be living with Parkinson’s by 2020, according to a Parkinson’s Foundation study.